Warnings: OCs, OOCness, an action scene (I'm terrible at these), minor language and sexual references
Notes: My Angrboda is not the canon manga one, but instead a giantess focused on revenge. See my fic "Inferno" for more. This chapter is very creepy but I'll see you at the end of it!
All Out Assassin Attack
Chapter 8:
Mother
The tall, muscled man with white hair glanced down at the damsel who slept in the feathery bed. She was lovely, with long eyelashes and beckoning lips... She had an aura of kindness and spirit, and a figure that some goddesses longed for.
Yet all he wished to do was take that thin neck and snap it. Remove her from the equation, for she was the ruler of his precious' heart...he could just reach and twist and she would...
He heard the sword clang as it passed his head and embedded itself into the wall.
"If you touch Sigyn again with your ghastly hands, I will remove them from your arms." The sword's thrower assured the man, who growled in response.
"I don't see why you're keeping her around. She's lovely, for sure, but you hate her just as much as I do." He said, reaching a shaky hand to touch the sleeping Mayura.
"Svadilfari, Odin has given you your human form and me my powers back in exchange for our loyalty. Do not break that vow because of personal vendettas." The goddess said, strolling towards the bed.
"We need her as bait if we wish to bring Loki back to our side, as we promised. You could kill her, but then you would become a stallion again. I'm sure you don't wish for that. My punishment would be a removal of all the godlike powers he's given me. I am, after all, a giantess at heart." She ruffled his hair and walked towards the door.
The man gritted his teeth. "But this witch took my darling from me...my beautiful mare..." He hissed, eyeing Mayura murderously.
"As she did to me!" The blue-haired goddess growled, turning to him in a fit of anger. "Do not speak as though you suffer alone! Loki was mine, mine until this monster took him from me! Even in another life, she holds his heart."
"Then let us kill her, Angrboda! In this mortal form, Sigyn is powerless. Useless! We can destroy her." Svadilfari said, approaching the giantess. "The twins are already gone, so why should she live? My son Sleipnir has lived, your children have lived, but hers haven't. Doesn't that make her weaker?" He asked, laughing insanely as he spoke.
"Did you not hear what I just said?" She cried. "Oh, this is what I get for working with a horse."
Svadilfari growled and crossed his arms at her, turning away.
"What has happened to you, Mother?" A soft voice came, and Angrboda turned to see Hel and Yamino, both standing by the unconscious Mayura. "You have never been this cruel before." Hel said sadly, twisting a strand of her hair.
"Midgardsormr...Hel..." Angrboda's eyes teared up. "My darlings, don't tell me your father has corrupted your minds. I am not cruel by any means."
"Mother...you have to give Mayura-san back." Yamino said as he picked her up.
The giantess' eyes lit up in anger. "No, never! She stole my family."
The siblings exchanged glances. "Mind control. Baldur's." Hel commented. "Shall we free her from it? We cannot approve of violence against Father's dearest."
"You'd side with her? The one who stole him...? She never did anything for you! Svadilfari, get them." Angrboda ordered, and the man's form dissolved into that of a huge stallion. "Forget what I said earlier. If Sigyn dies in the process, that's fine!" The thought that her own children would betray her for this wench sickened her. She no longer cared what Odin thought--she wanted revenge.
Yamino picked Mayura up as Svadilfari ran at them, destroying the bed. "Should I transform?" He asked Hel.
"No," she answered, backing up into a corner with Yamino behind her. "You have protected Father and Stepmother enough. I will fight Mother." Hel said, eyes glowing slightly. "Father chose Stepmother and was always happy with her. He and Mother never were as close...I have to remove the spell controlling her. You will be of no help."
"But I can't teleport home without you, either." He said, frowning.
"Hide there." Hel pointed to another corner, still emotionless. "I will fight."
Yamino glanced at his younger sister and nodded, carrying Mayura to the corner and remaining there.
"Tell me, Svadilfari, father of Sleipnir and stallion to the giants, are you afraid of fire?" Hel asked, and the stallion laughed ominously.
"Hel is, after all, the daughter of the fire god." The goddess of the underworld continued, and a circle of fire appeared around Svadilfari. The horse roared in terror and anger, kicking at the flames but they did not cease.
"Remain there while I deal with Mother." Hel ordered, and the horse could only obey.
Angrboda stared at her daughter with a large frown. "Hel, my darling, my only daughter. Why would you choose her over me?" She asked, beginning to cry.
"Hel sees how Father loves her, even if he doesn't always realize it." Hel said, looking down. "She has always been nice to Hel, and she always offered me friendship. I barely know you, Mother. Sigyn was not close to Hel's heart, but she at least tried. You were so caught up in your love of Father that Hel was brushed aside. Midgardsormr agrees."
Angrboda turned to Yamino, who just nodded in reply.
"Y-you w-would choose her over me?" Angrboda stuttered, sobbing as she spoke. "Then I may as well sever our connections! What's the point in giving you mercy when you hate me? Svadilfari, kill them! They mean nothing to me."
Yamino watched with a frown. "She's still under that spell...Hel, you have to break the spell."
The flames ceased and the stallion roared, running towards the goddess of the underworld. He reached her before she could move away, knocking her to the ground. Angrboda moved a hand, and Hel found herself tied to the bed by magical rope.
Svadilfari chuckled darkly. "Angrboda, my friend, if she means nothing...can I have her? She's awfully pretty and her powers are so lovely looking..."
As her tears evaporated into rage, Angrboda turned away. "Do as you wish."
Svadilfari did not obey immediately, instead he watched Hel's pain and the look on Yamino's face with astonishing joy.
"Mother, please snap out of it!" Hel cried.
"Please!" Yamino added. "How could you do this to Hel?"
"Odin's orders are more important to me than some stupid children who cannot even obey their mother." Angrboda hissed at the pair as she approached Yamino. "Now give Sigyn back or your powers will go to Svadilfari too. You can still earn your place back in my heart."
The green-haired demigod glanced between his mother and Mayura. Mayura was his father's faithful wife (at least in one life), genuine, and caring...but Angrboda was his mother. She gave birth to him, but in the end she did not raise him. If he recalled correctly, she hadn't even made an effort to save her children from their imprisonments.
She had never gone to the sea to rescue him, or to the underworld to rescue Hel, or to the snowy mountains to save Fenrir. It had never occurred to her--she had been too focused on earning back his father's love.
Sigyn had immediately come to visit him, despite his chains. She had offered him food (and in her ditzy way, wondered what giant snakes eat). She had tried to talk to him--although he was never too responsive, back then. Midgard had changed him for the better.
In the end, he had to choose. Betray his stepmother or his mother.
"If your love for us has to be earned, it doesn't really exist." Yamino said, looking into his mother's amber eyes and adjusting his hold on Mayura.
"Hel can't break the spell! Hel's powers are bound. Give her Stepmother. You can come back later and save her with Father. She might not really be Stepmother, anyway..." Hel said, struggling as Svadilfari began to drool at the thought of devouring her powers. "We have no proof. She could just be a mortal...please, go!" She said, smiling sadly. "Hel will be fine."
"Midgardsormr isn't as strong as you are, my daughter." Angrboda said, touching her son's cheek. "He has almost no magical abilities, therefore he's trapped. Now give her up or die." She ordered.
Mayura's eyes began to flutter open.
"She won't die immediately if you just give her up. I'll draw it out, I assure you." Angrboda continued as a sword appeared in her hand. She thrust it towards Yamino's throat, stopping an inch away. "Now, hand Sigyn over. Don't let her past kindness fool you--it was just a way to get to Loki. She's a cruel monster whose heart only has room for Loki."
"Funny," the sweet, almost seductive voice came, "I could say the same thing about you." Angrboda was thrown back by a sudden force and Mayura stood up.
Her hair had turned black, her face and height evolved, and now her eyes were violet. She held a silver sword in one gloved hand and continued to speak.
"Konnichiwa, Angrboda."
The blue-haired, enchanted giantess growled as she stood up. "You! You're dead--that girl is your reincarnation, not you! How are your powers...?"
"My soul still has the memories and powers, just not consciously." Sigyn explained as she turned to Yamino. "Are you all right?"
He just nodded, more than a little shocked.
"You shouldn't try to murder your kids. If you want to fight, fight me." She held out her sword. "I'll break that icky spell."
Angrboda accepted, rushing at the shorter goddess. Sigyn clashed swords with her but Angrboda moved too quickly, scratching the faithful goddess' cheek and leaving blood.
"Mou...I forgot that I'm terrible with swords!" Sigyn whined, waving her arms around as she bled.
Yamino sweat-dropped. They really should have noticed Sigyn's connection to Mayura earlier...or perhaps this was a sign of her current life's influence on her soul. Sigyn had always loved mysteries, but she had never used Japanese words before.
"Just another thing you're incompetent at!" Angrboda cried, striking Sigyn's sword as the loyal goddess whimpered. Angrboda moved her sword rapidly, cutting off a tip of Sigyn's hair and narrowly missing her stomach.
Sigyn gasped, looking at her hair. "That's so mean!" She wailed. "A girl's hair is her life! You have to be punished now, Angrboda. This is the last straw!"
The blue-haired giantess cackled at her. "You try!" The sword punctured Sigyn's stomach this time, but not too deeply.
"Sigyn, please do not fight her if you are unable!" Yamino said, fearing for his stepmother's life. He had forgotten about her battling inabilities.
"Oh! I can use magic." Sigyn remembered, clapping her hands together as she dropped the sword. She shouted something in the language of the gods, and Angrboda flew across the room again, hitting a wall.
"Now for you, Mister Ed!" Sigyn grinned madly, snapping her fingers as the rope fell off Hel, freeing her. Svadilfari hissed at the goddess, and she made a hand motion. "I'm going to remove the evil in you now, Svadilfari." She let her palm face him. "Purify!"
Dark aura rushed away from the stallion and he decreased in size, becoming a normal and confused horse without speech capabilities.
"Now to purify you, Angrbo--" Sigyn turned back to the mistress, but she had vanished.
Yamino, Hel, and Sigyn looked around but Angrboda was gone.
"Japan?" Sigyn suggested with a tired smile. "For Svadilfari, too. Give 'im a nice field, Hel."
The goddess of the underworld nodded, getting off the bed and approaching the others. With a flash, they left Asgard in favor of the cozy mansion.
X
"Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyyy." Sleipnir was whining again as he paced. "Fenrir's still not back."
"Neither is Yamino or Hel." Ken added, stretching Ecchan's face.
"Punnyan, worried." Ecchan commented with a pout.
The blonde god--currently goddess--groaned and buried her face in her hands. "STOP. CALLING. ME. MOMMY. We can't stop Ran or Baldur if I'm a girl. Even if I do have a nice figure."
Ken sweat-dropped at that.
"Loki-sama, we're home." Yamino said, wandering into the room. "We were unable to stop her, but we brought back Sleipnir's father."
The blonde demigod gasped. "DADDY!" He cried, running into the kitchen to search for the stallion (although he, much to the horse's disappointment, wasn't there).
Hel entered as well. "Father, we have a surprise for you." She added, glancing at Yamino. "Though we could not stop Mother, we had some help."
Looking up at her children with an expression that said nothing could improve her mood, Loki sighed. "From?"
"S-sigyn..." Ken stuttered as Sigyn entered the room.
She gasped. "KYAA! Narfi!" She gave him a large glomp of a hug and continued making high-pitched noises before letting him go to glance him over. "Have you gathered five hundred mysteries yet?"
Everyone sweat-dropped.
"712, actually." Ken said, grinning.
"Yay! You'll have to share them with me later!" Sigyn was giddy with excitement. "Oh, hundreds of fushigi mysteries..." She then turned to Loki and blinked. "Loki..."
"Sigyn...I thought you were dead." Loki said, standing up.
"Something's different about you! New haircut?" Sigyn asked, looking confused.
The entire group sighed.
"A spell." Loki said, glancing down at her current form. "Sigyn, how are you here?"
"My memories and powers exist in the subconscious part of Mayura's mind. I can temporarily allow the old memories to take over if I'm in hopeless danger, but I can't stay this way long. You'll have to free my memories the regular way." She explained, taking Loki's hands into hers.
"How?" Someone whispered.
"By finding me over five hundred fushigi mysteries! Or you could just unlock them by telling her--me--the truth." Sigyn replied.
"No matter who I am, I hang on to my love of you, so don't let me down. I know you fell for Mayura even before you knew about me. And it's not cheating 'cause it's me!" She continued, smiling sweetly. "I promise we'll meet again." With that, she kissed Loki and faded away.
Mayura blinked and shrieked, releasing the kiss. "Kyaa, I am so sor--" She glanced at her victim and turned fifty shades of red. "M-ma'am...I am so s-sorry..." She stammered, incredibly confused.
She looked around the room, noting all the stares directed at her. "Um...are you all Loki-kun's family?" She asked, a bead of sweat running down her cheek. "Ken-san, what are you doing here?"
Ken just smiled and took her hand. "I'll take you home, Mayura-san." He said, leading her out the door with a nod to his father.
Loki sighed sadly then turned to Hel and Yamino. "Thank you two. Are you all right? Angrboda didn't hurt you, did she?"
"No, Loki-sama, we're fine." Yamino said. "But until we can break Odin's spell, it's dangerous to approach her. She seems to have lost her mind, consumed by hatred for Sigyn."
Hel nodded. "Don't worry, Father, next time we see Mother, we'll save her. Definitely!" With a smile, she vanished.
Sleipnir entered the room again, hunched over. "I can't find Daddy..." He whined, near tears.
"I obviously need a stronger antidote for the spell...the one I made earlier didn't last long." Yamino muttered to himself, referring to the reverted condition of his half-brother. "Loki-sama, shall I start on that?"
"No..." Loki said, glancing between the two. "You two should get some sleep. I'll go to bed as well, as soon as Fenrir comes home."
Ecchan narrowed her eyes righteously. "Ecchan will go check on Fenrir! Punyann, Loki-tama can sleep." She said, and she probably would have pumped her fist into the air if she had one.
The pink blob floated out the window in search of the wolf.
"Ecchan!" Loki watched her go and laughed slightly. "No stopping her...she's a determined little thing."
"Loki-sama, Ecchan is right. You need sleep after all the chaos you've gone through. We can worry about Ran and Baldur in the morning. Ecchan can find Fenrir and will alert us if something has gone wrong." Yamino put his hands on his hips. "If you don't rest, Loki-sama, you won't be prepared for tomorrow!"
Sleipnir nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Mommy needs her beauty sleep."
Loki glanced between the two and stood up, heading for bed. "Such stubborn children..." She muttered, but didn't seem too upset as she walked towards her room.
Yamino watched her go and began to clean up the area so it would be in good shape for the morning. Sleipnir watched him.
"Midgardsormrrrrr..." He whispered. "What do you think Fenny's doing?"
"Fenrir is probably on another date. He's been getting along well with Ur--" Yamino froze. He couldn't tell anyone exactly who the mystery date was. His father would not be happy if news got back to him about that.
"Ur? That's a city in Sumer!" Sleipnir said excitedly. "Dating a city? Fun, I wanna date a city! Can I, huh? Can I, huh?"
"No, she's a girl. Named...Urameshi Yue." Yamino said, giving him the first Japanese name he could think of.
"Aw, it'd be more fun if she were a city." Sleipnir grumbled.
Yamino twitched, wondering how long he would have to deal with the child version of his eldest brother...
X X X
Okay, well, there's one arc down! The upcoming chapters should be longer and I have a new rule in effect--I update at 5 reviews. As soon as it hits 47, I'll update. Fair?
Chapter question: Okay, so last time I told you that someone's going to betray Loki. Who do you think it is?
I'm happy to say that I'm almost done writing the entire fic! 0.0 I know, I'm shocked too!
I'm very bad at battle scenes so I hope that one made sense. I've tried to explain everything to the best of my ability but some of the fic is confusing.
Lots of OCs, right? I try to write them so they're in Kinoshita's style but OCs are OCs...now I know that the list of gods is ever-expanding and may get confusing. I was going to wait until later for a separate chapter that gives you a description/identity for all the gods in this fic, but if you review and mention that you're /already/ confused, I'll put it up with the next chapter.
Speaking of which...
Next chapter!: An extra long one! A new assassin sets his sights on Narugami, Urd discusses something with Loki, and Mayura confesses her love!
